Aztecs women reach finals by squashing Cougars

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MWC TOURNAMENT

SDSU WOMEN vs. UTAH

Where/When: Thomas & Mack Center / 1 p.m.

TV/Radio: Versus; 1360-AM

Records: SDSU 20-10; Utah 22-10

Outlook: SDSU and Utah both probably need this game for entrance to the NCAA Tournament. It’s SDSU’s third straight trip to the conference championship game and a rematch of last year’s game, which Utah won 63-58. Two years ago, the Aztecs fell to New Mexico 62-59.

LAS VEGAS — Jené Morris said the San Diego State Aztecs were hungry. And yesterday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center, Morris and her starving teammates attacked BYU like the buffet at The Venetian.

Morris scored a game-high 28 points as the No. 3 Aztecs blasted second-seeded BYU 77-47 in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, propelling SDSU to its third consecutive conference championship game.

The Aztecs face fourth-seeded Utah in the championship game at 1 p.m. The Utes toppled No. 1 TCU in the earlier game. The winner gains an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. San Diego State’s chances are slim for an at-large bid, so coach Beth Burns believes her team has to win today to make the NCAA Tournament.

“I thought for sure we had to get to (the championship game),” Burns said. “… Without question, I think it’s important for us to win (today).”

SDSU (20-10) and BYU (20-9) split their regular season meetings — with BYU winning by 10 in Provo and SDSU squeaking out a two-point win in San Diego. But last night, there was little drama by halftime.

“We know we needed to make it to the championship,” Morris said. “We made it two years in a row and came back empty-handed. We wanted to use this time to show how good we can be. I would say that hunger definitely attributed to that.”

BYU jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, but the Aztecs picked up the pace with runs of 10-0 and 18-11, eventually building a 19 point lead on the Cougars. Paris Johnson converted a layup at the 16:42 mark and the Aztecs never trailed again.

Morris and Quenese Davis (18 points) slashed through BYU’s press while the defense forced 10 turnovers, leading to 14 SDSU points and a 44-29 lead at the break.

It was more of the same after intermission as SDSU started the second half with a 15-6 run to squash any hope of a BYU comeback.

“They just took it to us,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins said. “They probably played the best I’ve seen them. But got to give them a lot of credit. Beth did a great job preparing them for the game.”

After shooting a blistering 58 percent from the field in the first half, SDSU finished the game shooting 52.9 percent. The defense forced 19 turnovers, which led to 23 Aztecs points. They held the Cougars to just 36.4 shooting and 1-for-14 from beyond the arc.

Because the Cougars were the No. 2 seed, they didn’t have to play an opening round or quarterfinal game. SDSU won its quarterfinal matchup against Wyoming on Wednesday, then had a day to rest.

“It’s their first game back and I don’t think they have all the kinks out,” Davis said. “We got into a rhythm in (the game) we already played … we were ready to go.”

BYU, meanwhile, looked sluggish as the Aztecs ran them up and down the court, enjoying a 14-8 advantage in fast break points.

“It seemed like we kind of got punched first and we didn’t react the way we wanted to,” said BYU point guard Jazmine Foreman. “It might have shook us up a little bit.”